Michele Marchi

The phenomenal rise of Macron has a wide array of implications not only for France, but for all of Europe.
In a sense, France is now poised to take a gamble that could re-launch the long troubled European project.

For the first time since 1958 the two front-runners in the battle for the presidency both fall outside the traditional opposing parties. One is an outlier, the other is anti-establishment. Whoever wins, the balance of French politics will be definitively changed.

The French right has a storied tradition. Each new leader tries to mold the republic according to the historic context and to his own interpretation of republican values. Now François Fillon stands poised to initiate a shift in that tradition.

Things are coming apart quickly on the Old Continent. There are many reasons, and often the sources of one problem stem from the solution to a previous problem. Despite all this, Europe is heading toward a make-or-break moment in which it will be forced to act decisively.

The French are now looking at a tri-polar political scenario. The National Front Party, which once made waves at the fringes, is responding to many mainstream concerns. What does that mean for the future of French politics?

Sarkozy is back. In an attempt to gather all the elements of France’s center-right, in opposition to both Socialists and the Front National, he has formed Les Républicains to breath new life into the post-Gaullist tradition.